In a decade, car chases in Europe could be over with the flick of a switch. According to leaked documents, the European Union is working on futuristic technology that could cut a car’s engine from miles away.
The plan was proposed by the European Network of Law Enforcement Technologies (or ENLETS), a secretive branch of the EU, and aims to prevent dangerous high-speed car chases.
ENLETS admits the technology doesn't yet exist but development would mean cooperation and installation of the technology by European car manufacturers.
According to the meeting notes, the problem has been that "police are unable to chase the criminal due to the lack of efficient means to stop the vehicle safely." (Via European Network of Law Enforcement Technologies)
Despite claims that the technology is still years away, many European officials are already outraged at the plan and its possible impact on civil liberties.
Tony Bunyan, head of leaker Statewatch, demanded "evidence that this is a problem, and then … guidelines on how this would be used." (Via The Daily Telegraph)
And conservative member of British Parliament Douglas Carswell had this to say: "The price we pay for surrendering our democratic sovereignty is that we are governed by an unaccountable secretive clique." (Via Daily Mail)
Elsewhere, some wondered if the technology would catch on in the United States, still reeling from the NSA snooping scandal. The Christian Broadcasting Network's Gordon Robertson thinks those revelations could pave the way for similar police technology.
"Well I used to think that it wouldn't be okay for people in the U.S. to give the government all their tracking information, all their metadata from phone calls, but we seem to be willing to do that." (Via Christian Broadcasting Network)
In 2012, ENLETS was awarded nearly 500,000 pounds for a far-reaching program promising aid to front line policing and prevention of organized crime through technology.
Officially, the project has the support of British Home Office civil servants and police officers, but the BBC says it's unlikely we’ll see this technology installed within the decade.
